This research focuses on the critical role of urban environmental education for addressing both human well-being and climate change, especially in densely populated metropolitan regions. Recognizing the particular vulnerability of these urban zones, the study introduces educational innovations to respond to these intertwined societal and ecological challenges. By integrating advanced technologies such as sensors, IoT, and generative Artificial Intelligence with inquiry-based pedagogy, the initiative promotes broader democratic engagement. This approach results in the development of accessible technological solutions that visualize and disseminate data on key urban environmental indicators, such as tree coverage and heat islands. By merging these technologies with pedagogic activities, the study presents novel learning designs that bolster both digital and environmental competencies. A cascading model ensures that educators and academic institutions are equipped with the necessary training, tools, and designs to champion eco-conscious urban information strategies, further supported by open online learning activities for effective real-world application.

Microelectronics is an essential component of virtually all aspects of our daily lives. The microelectronics sector in Europe is responsible directly 200,000 and indirectly 1,000,000 high-skilled jobs and the demand for new skills is increasing. In this scenario, ECoVEM project, European Centre of Vocational Excellence in Microelectronics, is a continuing work, based on an existing model for business-education collaboration of the Knowledge Alliance MECA and Sector Skills Alliance in Microelectronics, both targeting tertiary education. The ECoVEM project platform targets vocational excellence on all levels of European Qualification Framework. This project aims to establish a transnational cooperation platform of Vocational Excellence in Microelectronics to tackle the challenges of the: digitalization, artificial intelligence, green technologies, gender equality, and integration of migrants among others. One of these mechanisms is based on develop innovative VET curricula through Massive Open Online Courses. professional online courses serve as catalysts for individual and collective growth, driving innovation, sustainability, and inclusivity within our workforce. They empower individuals to adapt to new challenges, seize opportunities, and contribute meaningfully to their fields, ultimately fostering a more dynamic and resilient workforce for the future.

This paper describes the organization and results of several MOOCs delivered about technical topics (i.e., digital electronics, VHDL design on FPGAs, open education and OERs repositories and the use of STEAM technologies to encourage diversity and inclusion), where online laboratories have been used in some of them. An analysis of the enrollment, students participating on tasks or quizzes, drop-out rate and certifications requests have been done.

Abstract Fall detection systems use a number of different technologies to achieve their goals. This way, they contribute to better life conditions for the elderly community. The artificial vision is one of these technologies and, within this field, it has gained momentum over the course of the last few years as a consequence of the incorporation of different artificial neural networks (ANN's). These ANN's share a common characteristic, they are used to extract descriptors from images and video clips that, properly processed, will determine whether a fall has taken place. These descriptors, which capture kinematic features associated with the fall, are inferred from datasets recorded by young volunteers or actors who simulate falls. Systems based on this concept offer excellent performances in tests which use that kind of datasets. However, given the well‐documented differences between these falls and the real ones, concerns about system performances when processing falls of elderly people are raised. This work implements an alternative approach to the classical use of kinematic descriptors. To do it, for the first time to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors propose the introduction of human dynamic stability descriptors used in other fields to determine whether a fall has taken place. These descriptors approach the human body in terms of balance and stability; this way, differences between real and simulated falls become irrelevant, as all falls are a direct result of fails in the continuous effort of the body to keep balance, regardless of other considerations. The descriptors are determined by using the information provided by a neural network able to estimate the body centre of mass and the feet projections onto the ground plane, as well as the feet contact status. The theory behind this new approach and its validity is studied in this article with very promising results, as it is able to match or over exceed the performances of previous systems using kinematic descriptors employing available data and, given the independence of this approach from the conditions of the fall, it has the potential to have a better behaviour than classic systems when facing falls of elderly people.

This paper describes the design and development of a Remote Laboratory based on a single board computer (Raspberry Pi). This lab consist of 3 experiments, each one of them have a controller with different construction or configuration characteristics, allowing users to experiment with electrical and electronic control elements, presenting the possibility of open and closed control loops.

This Research to Practice Full Paper presents a pilot test framed in educational robotics where parents and child work together during the same session. In recent years, an educational movement has emerged that is related to the introduction of computational thinking, programming, and robotics in schools. Educational robotics is presented as one more resource that serves as a support in the different curricular subjects and facilitates the emergence of skills such as socialization, creative spirit and personal initiative, allowing participants to find answers to the problems that may arise in their reality. It is for this reason that a pilot test was carried out where we included the participants' parents in a session. To do this we used the Crumble controller, a platform that is programmed using block programming language. This platform also allows making electrical connections in an amazingly simple way. From the mechanical point of view, we use materials that can be easily machined, both by children and by inexperienced people. At the end of the experience, the assistants completed the assembly of their own robot. The article contains a study of the state of the art of using educational robotics. It also includes an analysis of the different tools mostly used in educational robotics. Also, throughout the article the learning methodology used, the different educational resources and the results obtained from the experience are described.

Computational Thinking is a competence that is developed more in the last few years. This is due to the multitude of benefits it has in the classroom. Throughout this article we show a series of activities that promote the development of Computational Thinking using tools that allow visual block programming. The particularity of these activities is that some of them were performed during the confinement due to the COVID-19 and other activities were performed later, in the period known as the new normality. Throughout the article, details are provided about the different sessions. The different visual programming tools by blocks and the educational scenarios used are also indicated. In addition, the results obtained are shown.

Technologies 4.0 have had disruptive innovation in various sectors, including the energy one. Smart electricity grids, leveraging smart metering and data analysis systems, can provide a level of monitoring, control and optimization unimaginable until a decade ago. Network management mechanisms based on demand-response models may soon be a reality, thanks to smart contracts, blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine-to-machine technologies. These changes are leading to a radical change in the skills required by the labor market to operate in the energy sector, as well as the birth of new professional figures with both electricity and IT skills. This paper aims to illustrate the new opportunities and challenges that the Internet of Energy will bring. It also wants to present the results of the IoE-EQ project, which designed new professional qualifications, VET courses and open educational resources to support the training of staff involved in the digital transition of the energy sector.

This paper presents findings on participants of a massive open online course named "Educational Robotics for all" developed under Open edX platform. The document describes the organization and structure of the MOOC and some of its preliminary results. As an example, Module 2 about Gender and STEAM is presented and discussed.

The educational courses that fall into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) category require an extensive practical training in laboratories, in order to build and strengthen students’ skills, thereby preparing them for a future job market. In particular, the significant advancements in computer science and engineering press an urgent need to rethink the core of the existing academic courses, their objectives, and the tools for the practical work, due to the need to maintain the balance between the knowledge that academia provides to the students and the actual requirements for students’ future job vacancies. To this end, our educational research includes the design and development of two different types of laboratories, i.e., a low-cost Raspberry Pi-based laboratory, and a laboratory in the cloud, for the practical teaching of the course Distributed systems. In this paper, we present the valuable feedback from our undergraduate students for both types of the aforementioned experimentation approaches, thereby unraveling the pros and cons of both, and analyzing the existing challenges that still need to be properly tackled.

A didactic experience is presented focused to a group of secondary school to learn the main features of the topic of diode-based circuits. Students have followed the experience by means of a MOOC in which didactic activities and practices have been designed using the Cognitive Motor Model taxonomy. VISIR remote laboratory is the main technical resource to carry out practices.

Internet of Things (IoT) is widely recognized as one of the pillars of the digital transformation and it is one of the technologies whose market is growing faster. The diffusion of IoT services and technologies is an important opportunity for the growth and development of companies and the labor market. To support the adoption and diffusion of IoT technologies, it is necessary to qualify and/or re-train professionals and technicians in the sector. Among the various initiatives created in this regard, the European project IoT4SMEs in three years has developed interesting studies and produced useful open educational resources. In particular, in this work the authors report the main project outcomes and their impact on the target groups.

This article analyzes the existing management systems to be used as repository of Open Educational Resources for acquiring practical competences. The resources to be managed are mainly virtual and remote labs used in several European projects focused on improving the competitiveness of European SMEs. These virtual and remote labs may be based on different technologies, such as web pages, mobile apps, web services, virtual machines, etc. This wide variety of educational resources makes difficult the selection of a common management system to be used as repository for storage and delivery. The result of the analysis shows that the ViSH platform fits all the defined requirements.

In this paper a model to track learning experiences from an interactive e-book is presented. For this a digital book coherent with the EPUB3 standards has been made by exporting an existing course in a learning management system and replicating its interactive behavior. Defining trigger points throughout the book and amongst the interactions made by the students, that send data to a learning record store, enrich the e-book and provide the possibility to analyze and preview statistical data for students’ commitment to learning the material and their actions over the whole course. The xAPI specification helps collect educational data and store it in a database, which can be used for creating a further set of reports anytime in the future.

This Research Full Paper presents a survey about science and technology education scaling. At the end of 2013, the Spanish government released an Organic Law for Educational Quality Improvement (LOMCE). Which this law provides is a guide with the aim of getting information about the changes which this law implies and what is impacted. All of this is based on gender equality opportunities. Education curriculum simplification is also included. This article describes the goals, assumptions, and underlying logic about Spanish legislation change has impacted on science and technology education. The aim of this study is to provide learning technologies to drive science and technology education to students. This study includes an analysis of local scope in the modifications of the Spanish educational legislation and data on the actions of different educational agents in Spain. Several educational centers emerged, and other, which already was present, have been growing. In the last years, educational institutions had the need to prepare their teachers for science and technology knowledge. Several educational centers and robotic educational tools commonly used nowadays are summarized. Additionally, the analysis of different use cases has been included as part of this study. Firstly, cases related to the formal education of Spanish educational centers and how the educators of such centers have perceived the change. On the other hand, a specific analysis of a Non-Official Education Centre is included. Thus, as part of the conclusions included in this article, this paper provides the impact of educational scaling improvement in Spain and a set of robotic educational tools to be addressed for classroom.

Popularity of Arduino has grown in the last years, mainly as part of the Internet of Things, which is producing a relevant impact in several economic sectors (industry, transportations, energy, agriculture, home automation, etc.). Several national and European policies have been set-up to train the EU companies to the adoption and diffusion of the IoT technologies. In this paper, we describe the development of a remote lab of Arduino to give support to on-line IoT learning experimentation environments, which are very important to provide quality on-line education programs on IoT.

This study analyzes a gamification experience in a Network Security Management subject of an Information Technology Engineering degree to evaluate whether the spaced-education methodology contributes to the learning improvement. The gamification experience is carried out by an automatic daily delivery of technical questions to students by e-mail.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of UNESCO establishes goals and targets in areas of critical importance for humanity. Recently, members of the eMadrid network have organized the Conference Learning with MOOCs (LWMOOCS 2018), the leading worldwide global conference, inspired by this year's theme “MOOCs for All - A Social and International Approach”. This paper analyzes the main outcomes of this conference organized around the “Quality Education”, the Sustainable Development Goal 4.

This paper performs a preliminary analysis of the first MOOC of the IEEE Education Society, an IEEE Free Online Course on Open Education and Open Educational Resources (OER) Repositories. The MOOC "Foundations to Open Education and OERs repositories" is based on providing a comprehensive understanding both of Open Education and OERs, as well as the way they are changing the educational environment. The selection of participants' features from the MOOCKnowledge data collection mainly focuses on socio-demographic issues, previous experiences with MOOCs, usefulness of the MOOC to the participants' professional, personal and academic spheres, and types of student interaction. The preliminary results show that additional efforts are needed in order to boost the enrolment of both females and people with low level of completed studies, as well as increasing the level of awareness regarding certification. The results also reveal a positive impact of the course on the participants' professional and personal spheres. Finally, the most relevant interaction for them is the learner-content interaction. On the basis of these results it can be concluded that this MOOC offers an opportunity for practitioners to take advantage of the Open Education philosophy and its subsequent application to their everyday educational environment.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a pillar of European economy. Nowadays the acquisition of new e-competences is essential to follow the digital transformation for the society and the market, and to keep an adequate level of competitiveness. Internet of Things (IoT) are producing a relevant impact in several economic sectors (industry, transportations, energy, agriculture, home automation, etc.). This technology has a high potential in terms of new business opportunities and new job positions. Several national and European policies have been set-up to train the EU companies to the adoption and diffusion of the IoT technologies. This is also the main aim of the European project IoT4SMEs. In this paper, we describe the early activity of the project, focused on an assessment of the labour market training needs related to the IoT technologies.

This article describes the different Open Educational Resources included in several Vocational Education and Training qualifications designed by the authors. The aim of these courses is to foster European SMEs competitiveness through new technologies such as Cloud Computing, Internet of Things and Internet of Energy. The main resources included in the didactic courses designed are video lectures, interviews, showcases, webinars and demonstrators.

Robotics and computational thinking are valuable tools for developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pedagogy, and to promote inclusion and integration of students. We currently have a multitude of robotic education tools at our disposal. These tools arise with the aim of promoting innovation and student motivation during the learning process. Robots are becoming more and more common in our society today. Therefore, it is important to integrate robots into all levels of our everyday life. This work is focused on presenting Raspberry Pi as enhancer of educational robotics. The first step is presenting robotics as a tool for promoting the inclusion and integration of students. For this work a background and overview is also provided. The third part proposed different setups to prepare a Raspberry Pi for remote activities and robotics using Arduino as hardware interface. The last but not the least is an open discussion with the aim of exchanging impressions and getting feedback from the attendees.

This paper shows the design, approach and first collection of data of the MOOC "Foundations to Open Education and OERs repositories". This is the first MOOC of the IEEE Education Society, and it has been delivered freely and open available through IEEEx, a channel of edX.

Cloud Computing is a breakthrough paradigm and even more a key aspect for the digital transformation of companies, the Public Administration and Society. The IN-CLOUD project, funded by the European Union, aims to train and qualify professionals able to introduce and manage cloud-based services and technologies in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Public Administrations. Among all the outcomes of the project, a smart open online tool has been designed for adaptive education. The tool is able to assess the needs of each different user and to propose a customized learning path, optimally fitting his/her didactic needs and expectations.

A dedicated methodology for the production of MOOC videos has been implemented within the IN-CLOUD project, to guide all the partners, participants, and stakeholders, who will have to record them. In this case, the expertise needs have been achieved by the design and implementation of online courses for both open education (OCW and MOOC) and formal life-long learning technical courses. This paper suggests best practices for MOOC video production, including the basic principles of image language, the most common mistakes made when producing a first video, and the narrative structure.

This paper describes the design, development and first results and impressions of a novel Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) on industrial electronics practices. This was possible by implementing a state-of-the-art remote laboratory within the MOOC to allow online delivery of such practices-which makes this MOOC a first of its kind. Thus, the core of the MOOC is the remote laboratory Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR) and the experimentation carried out on it. A preliminary discussion on the design and structure of the MOOC is presented, based on the learning analytics of the MOOC platform and the operations record stored by the remote laboratory. The students' profile interested in this kind of MOOCs and their needs for getting advantage out of the remote laboratory are also considered in the discussion. The conclusions will result in modifications in this MOOC for a re-edition and the evaluation of the convenience of an advanced new MOOC.

There are many tools that enable the development of the augmented reality (AR) activities, some of them can even create and generate an AR experience where the incorporation of 3D objects is simple. However AR tools used in education are different from the general tools limited to the reproduction of virtual content. The purpose of this paper is to present a learning environment based on augmented reality, which can be used both by teachers to develop quality AR educational resources and by students to acquire knowledge in an area. Common problems teachers have in applying AR have been taken into account by producing an authoring tool for education which includes the following characteristics: (1) the ability to incorporate diverse multimedia resources such as video, sound, images and 3D objects in an easy manner, 2) the ability to incorporate tutored descriptions into elements which are being displayed (thus, the student is provided with an additional information, description or narrative about the resource, while the content gets adapted and personalized), (3) the possibility for the teacher to incorporate multiple choice questions (MCQ) into the virtual resource (useful for instant feedback to students on their understanding, it can be useful for the student to know what are the most important points of that issue and for the teacher to assess whether the student distinguishes different concepts) and (4) a library of virtual content where all resources are available in a simple and transparent way for any user. In this study ARLE is used to add AR technologies into notes or books created by the teacher, thereby supplementing both the theoretical and practical content without any programming skills needed on the designers' behalf. In addition to presenting system architecture and the examples of its educational use, a survey concerning use of AR amongst teachers in Spain has been conducted.

In this paper we focus on the achievements of eMadrid initiative in some fields of technology-enhanced learning, mainly involving the improvement of the mechanisms for open educational content retrieval from Internet, considering Internet resources as potential learning objects. Also we facilitate the integration of remote laboratories and external tools in virtual campuses architectures supporting enriched capabilities and describe a way to cluster and identify learner weaknesses using a learning analytics approach in combination with the item response theory.

The use of educational games in an academic context seems to be a superb alternative to traditional learning activities, such as drill-type exercises, in order to engage 21st-century students. Consequently, this work tries to raise the following objectives: analyze the effectiveness of game-based learning, characterize game elements that may contribute to create playing experiences, comprehend how different player types interact with games and, finally, design interactive games which may create challenges, set goals and provide feedback on progress while motivating learners to study physics and chemistry in a foreign language in the second cycle of Secondary Education (4thE.S.O. that corresponds to the age of 15-16 years old). Specifically, we have used several Web 2.0 tools (Hot Potatoes, Scratch, What2Learn and SMART Notebook 11) and applications (Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel) in order to create the games; and these games are based on the successive contents: laboratory safety, laboratory equipment, stoichiometry, atomic structure, electronic configuration, the periodic table, forces, motion and energy.

The ability for accessing learning tools at any time and from anywhere is highly increasing. Technologies such as Internet and mobile devices provide universal integration of teaching and learning. For scientific or engineering subjects, the use of real resources through on line laboratories is another step towards bringing the students to the practical laboratory sessions. These platforms show how teacher and student share a common work space in which they work together to solve problems. UNED (Spanish University for Distance Education) is working on the development of techniques that facilitate the building of remote laboratories and their access, both for students and for teachers. Current experience shows that the interaction of the students with these tools makes them more receptive to learning, regardless of their age. It also helps them to understand more easily abstract concepts in engineering and science subjects, associating these abstract concepts with daily life. It is also relevant that students can commit mistakes without any real risk. Moreover as the system will facilitate the building of customized reusable laboratory practices for teachers, these will be motivated to use them in their classrooms whenever possible. Both effects reinforce learning and reaffirm the position of teacher-student couple.

Online learning tools, such as courseware, learning management system, assessment tools, virtual, and remote laboratories are used in blended and distance learning. These online tools, Apart from being able to provide learning activities, allow displaying learning resources such as web pages, pdf or doc files and multimedia contents. This paper describes some online learning tools and the challenges to apply them in distance learning.

This article analyzes the use of wireless systems in learning environments and explains the advantages of these when robots are used for educational purposes in recreational and industrial environments. This article reflects the importance that these tools may have in safety, efficiency and productivity of training in learning and e-learning as well as the motivation that this systems cause on the students.

Can mobile learning disrupt methods and practices in the educational sector? This is the question we want to answer in this special session. Several examples of mobile educational applications are presented that have been carried out within the eMadrid excellence network.

This paper introduces the development of a Web-based platform that serves as tool to analyze the evolution and necessities of the new technologies in the education of engineering, as well as to evaluate those that finally will have more possibilities to be implanted. This platform gathers the opinion of engineering education experts to create visual comparisons of the results. The analysis offered by the platform is cross-discipline, cross-country, cross-continent, and cross-technology comparisons.

Mobile learning is impacting education using different technologies and methodologies. This article introduces two relevant learning experiences at UNED where new mobile technologies and pedagogical methodologies were applied. The first experience was based on a ubiquitous annotation system, while the second one used augmented reality to create an engaging mobile collaborative and open environment where students were learners and teachers at the same time, publishing content and learning from the content published by other peers.

This paper presents a thorough study on the available lab server software technologies for the design of remote laboratories. The paper focuses on the common outstanding technologies applied for this purpose such as LabVIEW and MATLAB. The paper addresses as well on other solutions such as high-level programming languages, e.g., C/C++ and .NET languages, pointing out the advantages, limitations, and applications of each. This is in order to ease the selection of the appropriate software when designing a remote lab. Furthermore, the paper points out applications in which various technologies are adopted in order to make use of the exclusive features of each. The study is preceded by a brief overview on the main hardware and software components in the construction of today's remote laboratory for engineering practice to emphasize the role of the controller server in the lab operation.

Merging a Learning Management System (LMS) and a social network has social advantages for students. Among others, students can show off their achievements among their acquaintances, which in turn improves their social leadership and self-esteem. This is specially true in the case of distance learning, where there are no physical interactions between students, so their student life is totally isolated from their everyday life (e.g. students do not go out together, since they may live in different cities or even countries although they study the same subjects). All these points suggest that the use of social networks for distance teaching has clear advantages that can be harnessed. In order to achieve the aforementioned benefits, we are working on integrating a commonly used LMS, Moodle, into one of the most widely-used social network, Facebook. This integration allows students and faculty to use Facebook as a communication tool that improves the learning process and social life of students in the ways presented before.

Until a few decades ago, face to face classrooms and hand-on laboratories were the common solution for teaching theory and practice. But, new e-Learning tools have emerged and learning methodologies such as blended and distance learning have taken an important space in learning initiatives. Among them are virtual and remote Labs which provide student with a learning environment where can carry out the experiments through Internet and acquire the needed skills to develop his future jobs. This paper describes the importance of virtual and remote labs and their usage in learning scenarios.

Spanish National University for Distance Education (UNED) has a great number of students located in different places from Spain, Europe and South America. By this reason, it is necessary to use e-learning tools that make easier learning process of our students. Nowadays, there are many e-learning tools in the World Wide Web, for instance: Learning management systems (LMS), courseware or online laboratories. In this paper we are going to describe the design, implementation and use of an assessment tool developed by Electrical and Computer Engineering Department that is able to work along with other learning systems (for instance a LMS, online laboratories, etc.) with the objective of improving learning processes.

This paper introduces the use of interactive animations in a blended learning approach for a digital electronics course. These interactive animations help students in the concepts acquisition, thanks to their visual and interactive features. The designed animations include all kind of logic gates (e.g., OR, AND, NOR; NAND, EXOR), Boole's algebra, many combinational and sequential circuits (e.g., coders, decoders, multiplexors, demultiplexors, comparators, synchronous and asynchronous flip-flops, chronograms, synchronous and asynchronous counters, and shift registries). These interactive animations have been embedded in many examples, exercises and auto-evaluation exams, which facilitate the understanding of the different concepts. Besides, these interactive animations have been encapsulated as learning objects and included in a learning object repository. Thus, anyone in the Web can search, find and use these digital resources. Finally, these interactive animations have been used in two different environments: high school and distance learning university. A different methodology has been used in each one of these environments to fit its requirements.

Practical sessions are the backbone of qualification in engineering education. It leads to a better understanding and allows mastering scientific concepts and theories. The lack of the availability of practical sessions at many universities and institutions owing to the cost and the unavailability of instructors the most of the time caused a significant decline in experimentation in engineering education over the last decades. Recently, with the progress of computer-based learning, remote laboratories have been proven to be the best alternative to the traditional ones, regarding to its low cost and ubiquity. Some universities have already started to deploy remote labs in their practical sessions. This contribution compiles diverse experiences based on the deployment of the remote laboratory, Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR), on the practices of undergraduate engineering grades at various universities within the VISIR community. It aims to show the impact of its usage on engineering education concerning the assessments of students and teachers as well.

Higher education has undergone a deep change in Europe since Bologna Declaration. One of the main tools to affront this change is through the incorporation of new technologies and learning methods, such as mobile and blended learning. This paper shows new services aimed to provide a personalized and closer education to learners. It will be achieved thanks to the integration of new services into the existing educational environment, giving rise to the concept of service-based learning. This concept is based on the philosophy of re-usable educative objects to create encapsulated and re-usable educative services easily integrated in e-learning platforms.

This paper introduces a generalized solution to support the development and reuse of practical educational scenarios. It is intended to complement the reuse initiatives already proposed for LMS resources, such as LOM, SCORM or IMS. These initiatives are mainly focused in media contents. By the contrary, this proposal is concerned with the tools that can be used in practical educational scenarios: simulators, remote labs, communication tools, etc. It considers the way in which these tools can be described, but also the way in which these tools are intended to be used. At this point, three main issues are supported: authorizations, awareness and interaction. This proposal is part of a more comprehensible development based in the language PoEML. It extends the IMS Learning Design capabilities to support practical scenarios through a generalized solution.

Creating, cataloguing and distributing high quality learning contents requires a significant investment of resources and time. Nowadays information technology applied as a tool in education has drastically reduced these efforts. It makes it possible to share, use and exchange digital documents under certain conditions specified by the author without any cost. Furthermore, the use of standards can improve development and reutilization. Learning objects are the new paradigm developed for spreading knowledge and increasing interoperability through metadata.

The arrival of new technologies to universities creates new situations and problems that must be solved in order to improve the care, support and tutoring provided to students. In many cases, the communication flows between teachers and students place an excessive demand on the teacher’s response capacity. This paper describes a system designed to answer automatically the questions of students, using the existing knowledge stored in e-learning platforms, such as dotLRN or Moodle; indexed in search engines, as Google or Yahoo; or data repositories as wikis.

All the different kinds of education are converging to a blended learning one and a large number of new applications has appeared using educational platforms (LMS, Learning Management Systems). Besides we must have into account the importance of the security in our applications, in order to get a suitable behavior of our system. One of these possible applications would be in the evaluation procedure. This article describes this huge area for Higher Education considering different technologies where biometric technology will be our cornerstone. Our application will be developed in two different scenarios: in traditional and on-line test.

The present paper introduces the creation of an interactive system for university environments based on personalization of services thanks to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The described system is a mosaic application that integrates different services that will allow identifying and locating students and teachers in some areas of a Faculty or Engineering School, as well as offering personalized information such as mails, messages, news, agenda, blogs, etc. The mosaic of services is designed to allow different levels of interaction with the users and different kinds of methods to interact with them, such as voice, touch screens or handwriting recognition systems.

Nowadays there are a great number of universities and organizations working on developing virtual labs. These virtual labs allow students to carry out their experiments and acquire practical knowledge. At the same time these universities are using one or several learning management systems that allow professors to display and organize theoretical content. A good solution is the integration of learning management system and virtual labs. That is what we are going to describe in this paper. We are working on a middleware that allows using the LMS's services together with the virtual labs.

The use of Near Field Communications technology in AmI environments is a further step in achieving our particular proposal of the vision of Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient Intelligence. This work explores the single use of this technology in order to get context information (partial) and offer services with a minimal interactive effort. Our proposal contemplates a general computational infrastructure. In this work, we put into practice the "touching interaction". We present AmIReG system for using the NFC-enabled cell phone to obtain services in a building.